Day 913 : American Cheese Celebrations : Day Three - Lille

I apologize my dear friends for being slightly radio silent for the past few days - I'm finally playing catch-up today and things will get much more consistent...so let's get back to day three in our American Cheese Celebrations wrap up from last week's tasting with Lille. No folks, I'm not talking about the city in France, I'm talking about the soft ripened Coulommiers inspired cheese crafted by the folks at Vermont Farmstead.

Coulommiers, in case you are not familiar is a cousin of the more well known Brie.

Lille is a fabulous bloomy rinded cheese -- full of buttery round notes and a nice clean mushroomy finish with faint hints of nuttiness and grassiness. A crowd pleaser of a cheese -- this is a sumptuous, unctuous, mouth coating cheese moment! 

Lille for me is the embodiment of Vermont summertime -- bright and full of life!

Instead of pairing Lille with the obvious options of either bubbles or a light crisp white wine, why not pair Lille with a cocktail? In honor of the summertime spirit what about an Elderflower Prosecco Cocktail? 

What do you need to make this cocktail

1 chilled bottle of Prosecco / Champagne / Blanc de Blancs -- your bubbles of choice, the crisper the better. 

St Germain Elderflower Liqueur 

1 Persian Cucumber

Mint Sprigs

Squeeze of Lemon

Ice

Add a few ice cubes to a tumbler style glass. Add a decent amount of Prosecco and a splash of St Germain followed by a few paper-thin slices of cucumber and a dash of lemon. Top with a mint sprig or two for crisp freshness. This refreshing cocktail will cut through the round buttery-ness of the cheese in the most elegant of fashions, it will bring out the hints of grassiness in the cheese and is a different route for Lille.

Albeit not particularly seasonal -- this is also a fabulous celebratory pairing!